Polyvinyl alcohols can readily form thin films having relatively high hydrophilicity and chemical resistance. Therefore, they have been widely used as various kinds of membranes such as reverse osmosis membrane, pervaporation membrane, carbon dioxide separation membrane, dehumidifying membrane, ultrafiltration membrane, precision filtration membrane, separation membrane for membrane reactor carrier for wastewater treatment, transparent hydrophilic surface coating material, blood filtration membrane not contaminated with proteins and the like. In these cases, the films are often crosslinked to increase mechanical strength and durability.
Polyvinyl alcohols can be crosslinked physically by freezing-thawing (Polymer, 1989, 30, 762], or chemically by dialdehyde (Advances in Polymer Science, 1997, 130, 1] diisocyanate (Journal of Polymer Science Part A, 1996, 925) or diacid and its substituents (Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 59, 425). The crosslinked polymers have more like a netlike structure as compared to linear polymers and are thus not easily dissolved and have been used in preparing separation membranes or biological materials with improved mechanical strength.
However, these polymers or the membranes prepared by using the polymers have a disadvantage that they are decomposed during the long-term use because they generally contain acetal, ester or urethane bonding groups which can be easily influenced by acid or water.